To Guard Equestria
by chris.dickson1994
Summary: Brought to Equestria as a child, he wanted only to protect those he loved. Now war threatens, and he must make a choice; guard Equestria, or those he cares for?
1. Prologue

Celestia looked down at the sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle. Today was her first day as the Princess personal student, and while it wouldn't start for another few hours, Celestia was very much looking forward to having a student again. It had been... it had been three hundred years since she last taught somepony personally. She hadn't realised it had been so long.

But she wasn't here to watch a filly sleep. No, she was here because she had a problem, and the source of that problem was also here.

Twilight had been given the standard psychological entrance exam; an impossible task. And then she went ahead and did it. And then she kept on going and did even more impossible things. Not content with simply hatching a dragon egg, she had proceeded to summon something.

And that 'something' was the source of her problem.

It was glaring at her from the bed opposite Twilight's. They had both been quarantined when she had realised what had happened. Twilight had accepted that, probably just happy she wasn't being punished. But it hadn't been as docile. It had fought against the guards trying to restrain it, injuring one badly enough to require treatment and gave another a black eye. She knew that was only because they hadn't expected something so small or thin to attack armoured guards. But it was still a problem. It had attacked guards. It was obviously violent. But that was understandable. It had been ripped from its home only to find itself in a collapsing tower. It had even saved Twilight and the hatchling.

She turned from Twilight and went over to it's bed. She lifted the clipboard hanging from the end and raised it to eye level. No doctor had known what it was, but a few working together had managed to cobble together a hopefully decent assessment. As limited as their knowledge of it was, anything was useful. What they knew so far was that it is bipedal, likely of ape or monkey descent, and omnivorous. It was male, and was apparently young. There was a note saying it had panicked when they checked that. The notes also went on to say that it seemed to need clothing for warmth. It was also intelligent. At least, it had seemed to be speaking. It had apparently assigned names to the doctors checking it over. When it saw Twilight was down here as well, it seemed curious about her, and when she got up and walked about it had smiled. Or bared its teeth.

A few more, shorter notes, detailing the injuries it had when admitted. Some burns, some bruises and two broken bones. One of them was an old break that had never quite healed right. A few old scars. It was also noted that it had been filthy and stank. It had insisted on cleaning itself, and seemed to know to avoid getting bandages wet. While it seemed happier to be clean, it had insisted on keeping the rags it had been wearing when it had arrived. There were a few more notes, but those seemed to mention things of little import. It couldn't sit still for long, it was a little jumpy, it had watched everything going on around it. All understandable, given the situation.

In fact, the only thing not understandable, was it.

She could still sweep this under the rug. Have a few of the more trusted guards disappear it, tell everyone it must have been a temporary summon, and never mention it again.

She placed the clipboard back where it belonged and looked at the thing in front of her. It looked back up at her. It glared at her. It had been almost a thousand years - nine hundred and eighty eight, to be precise - since somepony, or even something, had glared at her. And this, this colt, for want of a better word, had just arrived, had to know she was important from the way everypony bowed when she walked in the room. And he glared at her.

It had been so very, very long since she had been seen as anything less than a goddess, as an ideal to be aspired to, but never reached. And this young thing glared up at her with it's small, dark eyes, as if daring her to do it.

No, she would not do that. It had been ripped from it's home. She would not take it's life from it as well.

She would also have to stop referring to him as 'it'.

But what to do with it, with him? She usually gave her students an assistant of some kind, to help with the increased workload of both their normal studies and the extra ones she assigned. And, of course, to make sure they actually spoke to somepony other than her. She was going to assign the dragon hatchling, but it would be years before it was old enough to help. Yes, this would be better.

She would have to figure out what to do about the dragon. Perhaps giver her two assistants? Or raise it in the castle? It would need thinking about. She turned her attention back to the thing in the bed.

His face was inches from hers.

Only a very long life kept her from flinching. How had he managed to sneak up on her? He should have been tied down! Then she saw the straps. They had been done up, he must have slipped out of them.

He was standing on the bed, looking her dead in the eye. One of his arms moved slowly, reaching up to the side of her head. He stopped near her ethereal mane, the colours shimmering, as if blowing in a breeze that wasn't there. Gently, very gently, he stroked her mane, his small hand barely touching her. After a single stroke, his hand dropped back to it's side.

"You're real, aren't you."

Celestia was too stunned to respond. Only twice in her life had she ever been as surprised as she was right now. It hadn't sounded like a question, but the fact that he had spoken at all made that irrelevant. And she had understood it, but the doctors hadn't. Eventually, he blinked, the first time she had seen him do so, and looked away. He turned and walked across the bed. When he reached the top, he lay down, curled up into a ball and began to quietly cry.

Celestia left him to his tears. As the door closed behind her, she heard the clip-clop of little hooves on marble. A minute or so after they stopped, and so did the tears.

A year later

Princess Celestia looked over her desk at Prof. Sharp Quill, teacher at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. On the desk were two sets of report cards, one with the name 'Twilight Sparkle' written in Sharp Quill's neat hornwriting'.

Twilight's report card was, quite honestly, perfect. Perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect attitude, perfect behaviour. She had already started correcting the curriculum, something the professors had raised a hue and cry about at first, but stopped when Twilight begun apologizing profusely and crying.

The other report card was... not as good. The name on it was 'Michael'. His less than stellar grades were excusable, considering his circumstances. The fact he had passed at all was amazing. And his attendance was as perfect as it could be. His teachers had described him as quiet, willing to listen and happy to learn. But. There had been a problem, early in the year, with bullies.

Apparently, some of the foals of the richer families had thought he was a pet of Twilight's, and offered to buy him. The situation had ended with a pair of the foals requiring a visit to Canterlot General Hospital, where they received a total of twenty three stitches and a cast. According to one teaching assistant who had seen the start of it, the foals had started pressuring Twilight into selling her 'pet', when Michael snapped.

To her credit, Twilight was horrified by the display. Celestia was horrified by the display. By the doctor's estimates, Michael was at roughly the same stage in his life as colts Twilight's age, and with his word that his species lived to around eighty or one hundred years, he was the same age as Twilight. The idea a child could do something so violent, and then act like nothing had happened shocked the Princess like little else could.

It hadn't ended there, of course. The families of the injured foals had begun trying to get Michael imprisoned, or banished, or banished and then imprisoned in the place he had been banished to. She honestly had no idea where the last one had come from. The foals themselves, while reluctant to confront Michael, had instead taken to spreading rumours about Twilight and him.

The fact that Twilight had gone through her first heat shortly after the rumour began, and had been seen chasing Michael through the castle halls, hadn't helped. The poor boy had barely managed to outrun her, and when he finally got away he had vanished for two weeks, coming back filthy, bruised and with an escort of guards. How he had managed to stay hidden was a mystery, considering that he was a head taller than most ponies, and looked like a thin, almost hairless Diamond Dog. There had been rumours of something that looked like him being seen around Little Griffonia, but nothing had ever come of it.

Celestia looked up from the report cards when Sharp Quill cleared her throat.

"Are you pleased, Your Majesty?" the professor asked.

"Of course. Twilight's is nothing short of amazing, and Michael's is, well, understandable. What classes would you recommend they take next year?"

"Well, Your Highness, Twilight could probably take them all, if she wanted to. So, it boils down to what she wants to do. I would recommend that she take less courses, and focus on them. The practical magic and magical theory courses, along with history and astronomy. Something to get her outside the classroom would be wonderful, but I doubt she would go for it," she said, tapping her chin with a hoof. "Not that I mean anything by that, Princess," she added, realising what she had said.

"It is fine, Sharp Quill. Truth be told, I agree with you," Celestia confided. "Twilight spends far too much time indoors. But we can discuss that later. What of Michael?"

Sharp Quill tapped the relevant report card. "I don't think his future is in academia, Your Highness. He is intelligent, and he can work hard, but I truly think he only does it for Twilight."

Celestia frowned slightly, thinking quickly. "The Guard, perhaps?"

"I do not think that is wise," Sharp Quill said. She spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Michael... does not like you. I don't think he would do well in your Guard."

That would be troublesome. The Royal Guard were her strongest supporters, some of them being just shy of fanatical. "I could have him assigned to guard Twilight. If I make it known that will be his post, then the Captain will make sure he is treated the same as any other recruit. As much as possible, at least."

"That makes sense, Your Highness. I don't think they would be happy separated either. So, with that in mind, magical theory would be a good idea, along with history. And perhaps physics, with practical applications in the later years. Does that sound good to you, Princess?"

"It does, yes. It matches well with what the Guard Captains throughout the years have asked for in recruits," Celestia said, thoughtfully.

"Of course, there is still the chance he won't go for it," Sharp Quill pointed out.

"I don't think there is much chance of that."

Four years later

"Form up!"

Celestia watched the newest recruits train from her balcony. Her faithful student was next to her, looking between the railings, her eyes flicking between two figures below.

One was a white unicorn with a mane that was three shades of blue. His cutie mark was a blue shield with a purple star in the centre, and he watched the new recruits with sharp eyes, ready to spot even the smallest mistake.

The other was not a pony. He stood on two legs, head and shoulders above his fellow recruits, but despite this he was still thinner of limb and chest. He had pale skin, and his only hair was atop his head, a mess of dark brown.

For the fifth time in twice as many minutes, Twilight asked her, "Are you sure he'll be okay?"

Celestia smiled at her students concern. "Yes, Twilight, I am sure. The most dangerous thing to happen in the first few months of training is sparring, and few of the recruits, if any, will know how to fight. Indeed, your friend may be the safest one down there; he knows how to fight ponies, they do not know how to fight him."

Twilight let out a sigh. "I'd be happier if he wasn't doing any fighting at all."

The Princess and her student watched as the Captain of the Guard led the recruits through group exercises. There was the usual amount of stumbling and tripping over hooves as they learned what each command meant. Surprisingly, Michael took to this like a duck to water. Though, being bipedal, the various turns and maneuvers were somewhat easier for him than they were for quadrupeds like the ponies and griffons that made up the Guard.

"Odds are that he won't see any actual combat, Twilight. The last few decades have been remarkably peaceful. Quite possibly, the worst thing he will have to deal with will be annoyed nobles."

"Thats not too bad, I suppose," the purple unicorn said. "I just wish he didn't have to fight at all."

"I know, Twilight, and I understand. But this is his choice, so we have to support him."

"I know, Princess, and I will. But I barely see him now, and after training he'll be sent away."

Celestia nodded, but said nothing. She lifted a wing and pulled Twilight into a hug. This next part would not be difficult. Twilight would not want a guard, to be sure, but Celestia was sure she wouldn't mind if it was him.

"Is there something you would like me to do about that, Twilight?" Celestia asked her.

The little unicorn's head shot up. "You could have him posted in Canterlot. I could see him everyday then."

"Like you see your brother everyday?" Twilight's chagrined look told Celestia she was close. She had, at most, four years before everything had to be in place. It would make doing what she had to much easier if Twilight had a Guard nearby when she faced Her.

Celestia pushed that train of thought from her mind. Time enough for that later. The other five were in place, in a town on the forest's edge. No, focus. She looked down to see Twilight, deep in thought. Not an uncommon sight, to be sure, but it was usually directed at a book, not the sky.

"He could guard me," she said, quietly, at last.

"And why would you need guarding? You are my student, yes, but if you have ever been in need of a guard, I have yet to hear of it." She felt a touch of guilt as Twilight's face dropped, but squashed it ruthlessly.

"I, I could help you organise things?" Twilight half said, half asked. "I mean, I'm very good at organising, and I only two or three years left in my studies before I graduate. Maybe after that, I can help you."

Celestia allowed herself a small smile. Perfect. "I would like that very much, Twilight. For now, you keep your focus on your studies. I'm sure your brother will not object to you having a guard, at least. Especially not him."

Of course, Shining Armour already knew she was planning on having Michael guard Twilight. While he would be trained with Earth Ponies, he would have medical training beyond what most Guards received, as well as one or two other additional courses. The official line would be that his hands made such things more sanitary, or just made it possible, but the truth was the Guard Captain wanted the one guarding his sister to be as proficient as possible.

Four years later

Princess Celestia looked up from her desk when the door to her study opened.

"You wanted to see me, Princess?" her faithful student asked. It was odd, but looking at her right now, Celestia could only just see the little filly she had taken on as her student. Oh, there were hints of her here and there, in the baby fat on the cheeks, in the curiosity in the eyes, but for the most part Twilight Sparkle had grown up.

"I did, Twilight. As you know, in two days the Summer Sun Celebration is being held in Ponyville, a small town near the foot of Mount Canterlot. However, the pony I had going to make a final check has taken ill. I was hoping you would be willing to go in her stead."

"I'd be honoured, Princess. I'll pack and leave right away!"

Celestia turned and looked out the window. The sky was perfectly clear, the moon and stars shining with a gentle light. She turned back to Twilight. "It can wait until morning, I think. Everypony will be asleep now, so you would not be able to check on the preparations. Though you probably should pack now."

Twilight blushed at that, before bidding her a goodnight and leaving. The sight that warmed Celestia's heart. Yes, her little student was all grown up. She just hoped it would be enough.


	2. Chapter 1

Twilight hopped out of the sky carriage just behind me, stopping to give the pegasi pulling it a quick 'thank you.' After a nod, the pair took off back to Canterlot.

"Where's our first stop?" Twilight asked, looking around. Ponyville wasn't big, being a rural village supported mostly by farming. Twilight took the time to look around while I looked through the check-list the Princess had given us. I had opened my mouth to answer when a bright pink pony stopped to look at us.

This struck me as a little odd. I could understand me being stared at. Didn't like it, but understood it. Twilight, though, I didn't get. I got even more confused when, after Twilight tried to say 'hi' to the mare, she let out a huge gasp, jumped her own height straight up, and took off without another word.

Twilight and I shared a look. "Okaay. Moving on. Where's our first stop?"

"Sweet Apple Acres," I said quietly. I always spoke quietly in public. Talking loudly brought attention, which I got more than enough of. That used to annoy her, but she was used to it now. It made hearing me a challenge sometimes, at least in Canterlot. "Its that way," I said, pointing, and quickly fell in beside the purple unicorn as she started walking.

A lot of ponies were looking our way now. Most of them had likely never seen a Royal Guard before, especially not one on two legs. I did look a little bit intimidating, I guess. And I didn't have the golden plate armour the rest of the Guard had. Instead, I have what's called 'chain armour', made of tightly linked steel rings, burnished and oiled until they shone. I had a set of padding under and over it though, which took care of the whole 'metal on skin' problem.

Of course, if my shape and armour weren't enough, I was armed on top of that. They could probably see the hilt over my right shoulder. Twilight had asked my not to bring my sword, saying it made her nervous, but I had refused, citing the nearness of the Everfree as proof I needed it. She had reluctantly agreed.

We walked in silence, unconsciously taking a route that avoided the centre of the town, where most of the residents would be this time of the day. When we were a few minutes outside of the village, we passed the first row of apple trees. Twilight said it should be a short walk after that, but the rows of trees just kept going. We had been walking alongside the orchard for almost half an hour when I stopped her, before walking over to the fence and waving at her.

Curious, Twilight joined me and looked over the fence, which was just short enough for her to see over. Don't know why. All she could see were apple trees. Lots and lots of apple trees.

Twilight let out a squeak of surprise when I lifted her up and over the fence, before placing her gently on the ground. She turned around and glared at me.

"Give me some warning next time, okay?"

I nodded, climbed over, and waved her forward. She let out a sigh and started walking. I was close behind her. There was a dusty path between the rows of trees, leading away from the fence. After a few minutes walking, I could see the top of a red barn or farm house over the treetops. But before we could reach it,we met a large red Earth Pony stallion with an apple cutie mark, who was staring intently at a tree.

Somewhat nervous, Twilight introduced herself. "Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I've been sent here by the Princess to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Can I ask who you are?"

The stallion looked over at her, his eyes flicking to me for less than a second. "Names Big Mac. You'll be wantin' Applejack. Gimmie a sec." And with that, he turned back his attention back to the tree. He studied it for a second, before turning his back on it.

With a dull thud, one of the stallion's back hooves hit the tree, and the apples dropped from the branches into baskets on the ground, not one landing outside them. Big Mac then lifted the baskets into a cart on the other side of the tree before hitching himself onto it. When he was sure it wouldn't come loose, he turned to face a stunned pair.

"C'mon. I'll introduce ya."

I recovered quickly. Big Mac was pulling the cart along the right hoof side of the path. I took the middle, leaving Twilight to take the left.

The three of us spoke little as they walked. Twilight tried to ask Big Mac about preparations, but his answer was always the same. 'Talk to AJ.' Eventually, we lapsed into silence, and a surprisingly comfortable one. A quiet caused by people who don't feel the need to talk, rather than one caused by those who can't think of something to say.

When we reached the farm, Twilight was panting, and her coat had a slight sheen from the sweat. She glanced at us, and saw we weren't even breathing hard, despite the extra weight we had. She shook her head, and, not for the first time, I made a mental note to try and get her to exercise more.

Big Mac pulled the cart into a barn and left it their, keeping the yoke around his neck. When he came out, he pointed at a tan Earth Pony mare with a trio of red apples as a cutie mark. "That's AJ," he said to them. "Hey, AJ! There's a Miss Sparkle here ta see ya about food fer the celebration."

The mare in question turned when she heard her name, and trotted over. "Howdy, y'all. Names Applejack, but you can call me AJ," she said, extending a hoof.

"Hello, AJ. I'm Twilight Sparkle," she said, quickly shaking hooves. "The Princess sent me to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. The Apple family is in charge of catering, correct?"

"That we are," Applejack said, voice full of pride. "You care to sample some?"

"I guess, if it doesn't take too long," Twilight said.

Applejack just smiled, before looking over Twilight's shoulder at me, her smile faltering slightly. "He won't hurt anypony, will he?" she asked Twilight.

"Only if they try to hurt me or Twilight first," I said.

Applejack gaped slightly, and Big Mac showed a brief look of surprise.

"You, you kin talk?" she asked, confused.

"No. You're just imagining this," I replied, doing my best to keep my face perfectly straight.

Applejack snorted and stomped a hoof. "Hey now, no need ta get snarky."

"Oh really? What's my name?"

Applejack opened her mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut. "What is yer name then?"

"Michael," I said, extending a hand. At Applejack's confused face, I said, "Shake it."

A quick hand/hoof shake later, and Applejack led us behind the house where a table had been set up. With a cry of 'Soups on, everypony!" she began introducing her family. The names went by in a blur, all apple related. I could remember some; Caramel Apple, Apple Fritter, Applebloom, Granny Smith, one or two others.

Most of the ponies avoided looking at me, as usual. There was just something about me they didn't like. It hadn't been as big a problem when I was younger. The only ones that didn't ignore me were Granny Smith, who simply treated me like she would anyone else, for which I was thankful, Big Mac, who kept an eye on me, and Applebloom, who stared at me. When she was sure nopony would stop her, the little filly walked over to me and tapped my leg. I looked down to see what it was, and saw a pair of big orange eyes.

"Hey mister, what're you?"

I looked down at foal. "If you mean what species am I, I'm a human. If you mean what do I do, I'm a Guard."

"What's a human?" Applebloom asked.

"I am." A small smile pulled at my mouth when Applebloom frowned. Damn, she was cute.

"Well, where do you come from? I've never heard of humans before."

"Personally, I'm fae a city called Glasgow, in a country called Scotland," I replied, slipping into my old accent for a bit. "But I really couldnae tell you how to get there from here."

"Oh, okay," the yellow filly said. A seconds pause. "So, you're a Guard? Have you met the Princess?"

Instead of answering, I walked over to a tree near the table Twilight was eating at. Sitting at the base, I checked to make sure the unicorn didn't need my help. She seemed to be happily eating far too much pie. Though if it tasted as good as it smelled, I couldn't blame her. Applebloom followed me over.

"So, have ya? Have ya met the Princess? Have ya fought criminals? Were they thieves? What were they stealin'?"

"Yes, I've met the Princess. No, I haven't fought any criminals, thieves or otherwise." I leaned back against the tree, shifting slightly to get more comfortable. Judging by the amount of food on the table, we were going to be here for a while. "All I've done after basic is guarding Twilight over there." I nodded towards the table as I spoke, making Applebloom turn to look.

Applebloom tilted her head to the side. "Her? Why're ya guardin' her?"

"Well, she's the Princess student, but really, I do it because she's my friend."

"Ya must really like her, to become a Guard just to guard her," she reasoned, before letting out an adorable yawn.

In place of an answer, I picked Applebloom up and placed the filly in my lap. She tried to complain, but instead let out another, larger yawn.

"Long day, huh?" I asked her. She nodded silently, laying down. She mumbled something I couldn't hear, and then she was asleep. A glance at the table showed me barely a dent had been made in the pile of food there, so I used a trick Twilight's brother had taught me. It let me zone out slightly, enough to make standing guard for hours bearable, but not enough for me to be completely oblivious.

When I zoned in, the sun had moved a bit towards its peak. It was around an hour later. The table only held empty containers now, and around it was a circle of ponies with full stomachs. As l looked around, Applebloom stirred. She looked up at me for a second, before settling back down.

"Ah, up you get, Applebloom,"I said, lifting the filly.

"Aw, but I don' wanna!" she complained.

"Well, I have to get up, so you do to. Now come on, lets see if there any food left here." I managed to find some fruit - apples, funnily enough - and moved around the table to where Twilight was sitting. She had a small smile on her face, and was leaning back in her seat.

I placed Applebloom on the table, and leaned down to Twilight. "Wake up, Twilight. We've got work to do."

The unicorn let out a sigh, and rolled out of her seat. She said her goodbyes to everyone. I only nodded at each of them. When every member of the rather large gathering had been wished a nice day, Twilight and I set off back to Ponyville, the former lagging behind every now and then due to overeating.

We were just on the outskirts of town when I saw something speeding towards them. Towards Twilight. Before Twilight even knew it was coming, I had slammed into it, sending both of us into a puddle of mud. Twilight watched as I held the shape down for a second, before springing back to stand in front of her.

It was a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, and a cloud shooting rainbow coloured lightning for her cutie mark. I looked at the muddy mare and said to Twilight, "I think this is Rainbow Dash, the pegasus in charge of the weather." Twilight nodded, and walked around me.

"Sorry about that, he can be a little over protective," she said. When she got no answer, she took another step forward. "Are you okay?"

"That. Was. AWESOME!" The cyan mare shot into the air. Completely ignoring Twilight, she flew over to me, hovering high enough to look me in the eye. "Where'd you learn to do that? Who taught you? How'd you move so fast?"

"Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I taught myself. Practice. Are you Rainbow Dash?"

"What? Yeah, I'm the Dash. Why, ya heard of me?" she asked, her voice making it obvious what she thought the answer would be.

"No. But she," I said, pointing to Twilight, "needs to talk to you."

"Cool. Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Michael. That's Twilight Sparkle. She's in charge of preparations for the ceremony. Go talk to her."

"Alright, geez, I'm going. But you and me, we're having a rematch later." The pegasus flew lazily over to Twilight, stopping about a bodylength away from her. "So, you're in charge of things? Hows that working out for ya?"

"You're in charge of clearing the skies?" Twilight asked, ignoring the question.

"Yeah. What of it?"

In response, Twilight looked up at the sky. The cloud filled sky. Then back down at Rainbow Dash. And back up at the sky. And, finally, once more back down at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh. That. I'll take care of that after my training." The blue mare flew up to a cloud, landing on it on her back.

"Training? Training for what?" Twilight asked.

"Only the Wonderbolts!"

"THE Wonderbolts?" A nod from Rainbow Dash. "Fastest flight team in Equestria?" Another nod. "Going to perform at the ceremony tonight?" Another nod. "You think the Wonderbolts will take a pegasus that can't even clear the skies, and keep them clear for one measly day?"

"Please. I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat. Watch."

And then she was off. And true enough, ten seconds later, she was back. And there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She had even managed to get herself clean while flying through clouds. "Like I said. Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hangin'."

Twilight was gaping, and I could tell she didn't care. There wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles around. And there had been a fair number only seconds before. Rainbow Dash smiled as she looked from Twilight's stunned face to me. I gave her a slight nod.

"You two are alright. We should hang later. See ya around!"

They both watched Rainbow Dash leave. After a second, I pulled out the check-list and made a mark next to 'weather'. "Next is decorations. Over there." I pointed at a tall building, one with colourful pennants waving from the roof.

They entered, and saw the decorations seemed to be more or less finished. "This should be quick," Twilight said, mostly to herself. "Hello? Is anypony here?"

A white unicorn walked out from behind a curtain. "Yes, who isaaAAAH!" What she was going to say turned into a scream when she saw me. Twilight was shocked. Nopony else had ever reacted like that. Nopony else had screamed.

"Look at you! You're covered in mud. We simply must get you clean right away. Come along now." With that, she walked away, the curls of her deep purple mane bobbing as she moved. I looked down and behind me, and saw I had been tracking mud. I had forgotten I had tackled Rainbow Dash into a mud puddle after the pegasus had cleared the skies.

I looked down at Twilight, who nodded, and the pair followed the white unicorn, only a second or two behind. There, they found a dressing room, complete with a washbasin and a place to hang clothes. I took off my coat and trousers, mail showing for the first time that day. Secretly, I was glad it was warm. I couldn't wear my armour in the winter, the cold would kill me. I gave Twilight another look, and they levitated from my hands, floating over to the washbasin. Soon, the mud had been washed off, and a quick drying spell later, I was putting my clothes back on.

Of course, the white unicorn, who introduced herself as Rarity, insisted on making Twilight something, and when she learned they were from Canterlot she turned the charm on full blast. While they was busy, I set about cleaning the mud of my armour and sword.

When she realised Twilight wasn't a social pony, she turned to look at the rooms other occupant, only to realise we hadn't been introduced.

"I say, you haven't told me your name," she said, her tone accusatory.

"You never asked, and one should never make presumptions for a lady," I replied,keeping my tone neutral, not looking up from cleaning my sword and armour.

"That is true. But I feel I know you from somewhere, even though I know we haven't met... " She trailed off, before turning back to Twilight. "You are Twilight Sparkle, correct? The Princess' personal student?" Twilight nodded twice, and Rarity turned back to me. "That would make you... Mishael?"

"Close. Michael. Surprised you've heard of me."

"Well, I try to keep up with the going ons of Canterlot," Rarity replied, flipping her mane. "How long have you lived there?"

"Nine years."

"And where did you live before that? Assuming, of course, that you aren't nine years old."

The last part was probably supposed to be a joke, I thought. "Far away. Not sure where in relation to Equestria." I lifted my sword closer to eye level, to get a better look at the edge. It wasn't much to look at, to me at least. Probably different for a pony. It was longer than most ponies were tall, double-edged, and I could use it with one hand just as well as with two. It had a groove in the centre on each side, which confused pretty much everyone, but really just made the thing lighter. As it was, I was thankful for all the heavy lifting I had done during basic.

He looked up to see Rarity giving me a confused look. "If you don't know how to get from here to there, how did you get here?"

"Magic." Rarity gave a silent 'Ahhh,' as understanding dawned.

"If I may ask, who...?" she trailed off when she saw Twilight looking down at her hooves.

"Not your fault Twilight," I said, putting my sword away.

"I know how you feel, but-" she began.

"Not. Your Fault," I interrupted. Standing up, I turned to Rarity. "Decorations. How are they coming along?"

"What? Oh, swimmingly. They'll be gorgeous." The white mare licked her lips and looked between the two of us. Twilight still looked like a foal caught taking sweets, though I doubt she could tell how I was feeling. And not because Guard training involves learning how to keep your emotions from showing. "I hope I didn't open up any old wounds between the two of you?"

"We'll be fine." Without looking, I reached over and gently flicked Twilight's ear. This earned me a slightly dizzy glare, which I ignored. "Come on, Twilight. One more stop then we can check out the library we'll be staying in."

That cheered her up a little, and we managed to get going with only one last 'farewell' from Rarity. A quick look at the map, and we were off. Towards the Everfree, to be sure, but if someone was living out there it couldn't be that bad.

We found her, a pink maned yellow pegasus mare with a butterfly cutie mark. She was conducting a bird based orchestra. Twilight had been about to interrupt the song, but I stopped her. I waited until the song had stopped before clearing my throat.

That proved to be a mistake. She flew at me like I had insulted her honour, stopping less than an inch from my face.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine," I replied, just as softly. "Twilight here needs to speak to you about the Summer Sun Celebration."

The unicorn nodded. "I just need to know how preparations are coming along. Though I must say, it sounded lovely."

I doubt the pegasus heard her. She was hovering in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes. There was something about those eyes, that made them seem deep, like pools of water you wanted to fall into.

With an effort of will, I threw off whatever mental magic she was doing and got my mind back under my control. This surprised her, though I think she hadn't realised what she had been doing.

"Sorry," she said, again softly. "I'm Fluttershy. What's your name?"

"I'm Michael. My friend is Twilight Sparkle. She is here to check on preparations for tonight's celebration. How are they coming along?"

"Oh, its coming all just fine. It's nice, listening to birds sing."

"That's good to hear. We should get going." With that, Twilight and I started to walk away. We were soon joined by Fluttershy, however. Had she thought 'we' meant her and I? Had she even noticed Twilight?

"S-so, Michael," Fluttershy began, glancing up at me before hiding under her mane. "C-could you tell m-me about yourself? If you don't mind, that is. I ask, because I've n-never heard of an animal like you. Not that I think you're an animal! Though you do have canines and incisors, which means you can eat m-meat."

She trailed off after that, her barely audible voice becoming even quieter. "It's fine, Fluttershy. I don't mind." And so, I spent the rest of the walk to the library talking to Fluttershy. It was an odd experience. She was very easy to talk to, for some reason. I ended up telling her a fair bit about myself. Nothing from Before, though. And nothing violent, either.

Eventually we reached Books and Branches, the library Twilight and I would be staying in. I stopped the two mares just outside it. "There are people inside," I said, still in my Fluttershy voice. I stepped forward, out from between Twilight and Fluttershy. Fluttershy went ahead and introduced herself, which answered that question.

I gently placed an ear against the door. I could hear giggling through it. With a sigh, I knocked on the door. "I know you're in there," I said, talking louder than I normally do. There were various sounds of disappointment from behind the door, followed shortly by it slamming open. In the doorway stood the pink mare from this morning, the gasping one.

"How?" she, well, she begged me.

I looked down at her for a second before answering. "Curtains moved, but there isn't a breeze. I could hear hooves moving on wooden floors, and also someone giggling. The food smells nice as well."

She looked up at me, then let out a sigh. "You're good. But I'm better. I will surprise you. One day." Then, with a breath that could in no way fit inside her lungs, she perked up. "Anyway, hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Ponyville!"

Twilight and I were ushered inside, with Fluttershy following behind. Introductions were done lightning quick. I was starting to think she did have the whole town in here. Though I'm pretty sure I was introduced to the same pony multiple times under different names. That could just be because Pinkie Pie kept spinning me around.

Eventually, I managed to escape by standing against a wall and looking annoyed. Twilight had no such luck. After a bit, she was swarmed by the four mares we had met to deal with preparations and Pinkie Pie, though it was hard to imagine them swarming anything. Well, except Pinkie Pie. Considering the things I had seen her do already (eating pretty much anything with hot sauce was the least of her tricks) I could imagine her swarming. And loudly at that.

A few minutes later, Twilight got a mouth full of hot sauce and retired for the night. I checked up on her to make sure she was okay before heading back out to keep an eye on the guests. I doubted they would do anything, it being a public building and all, but Twilight asked me to.

I spent the duration of the party answering questions. 'What/who was I?', 'what did I do?', 'why was I here?', 'who was Twilight?', 'what did she do?', 'why was she here?', and 'was she okay?' were the main ones. It may not sound like much, but I must have repeated the answers to each of those at least thirty times each. Then there was the follow up questions of 'have you met the Princess?', 'can I see your sword?', and 'what's the Guard like?' Those were asked less often, around ten of each.

I was pretty happy when it was time to move to the Summer Sun Celebration. The attention would be off me, at least. Of course, Twilight and I had our usual pre-meeting-with-Celestia argument. She wanted me to go unarmed. I did not.

Now, I'm not going to lie. When it comes to Twilight, I have a tendency to do what she wants me to. And I don't know if its because she hates the idea of anyone bringing weapons near Celestia, or if she's just used to getting her own way as far as I'm concerned, but this argument, despite being short, usually ends in us not speaking for a while.

I stood in the back of the hall, so as not to block anyone's view of their precious Princess. The Mayor gave a speech, a fanfare was played, the curtain was lifted and Celestia...

Celestia was gone.

Fuck.

The other Guardsmen were as surprised as I was, so it was recent and unplanned. Not good. The Mayor was trying to calm the crowd as nerves began to build. Nerves became panic when a dark mist appeared where Celestia should have been.

An alicorn appeared, forming from the mist. It was maybe a fraction of an inch taller than Celestia was, and height and species were all the two had in common.

The alicorn on stage was black coated, with black wings. It had an ethereal mane as well, but this ones was stars to Celestia shifting sunrise mane. Its cutie mark was a crescent moon surrounded by dark purple.

She, I'm assuming she, as it looks like Celestia and sounds female, started going on about how she had been imprisoned. I stopped paying attention. Twilight would remember what she said. I had to get us out of here. The door was to my right, and there were more guards to the left, three pegasi, though they seemed too surprised to do anything. I started trying to sneak around the edge, behind the other guards, hoping my dark blue jacket would help me blend in with the shadows on the walls.

Somehow, I managed it. The ponies had began crowding in the centre, taking solace in numbers. I couldn't kill her. The Guard had a strict 'lethal force is a last resort' policy. Plus, she might know what happened to Celestia. Twilight would be miserable if Celestia died. I spotted a stool near the black alicorn, to her right. A plan formed. My plans tend to come in one of two kinds. Either just crazy enough to work, or too crazy to not work. I hoped this was one of the former. I got hurt less with those ones. I just needed a distraction.

Twilight locked eyes with me a split second, giving me an almost imperceptible nod. Then she stepped forward.

"I know who you are! You're the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon!" Twilight now had 'Nightmare Moon's' full and undivided attention. I was not okay with that. I walked forward as quietly as I could. When I was a few steps from the stool, I broke into a run. Step up onto the stool with my right foot, push off hard, get left leg over... success! I landed on her back, leaning forward and snaking an arm under her neck, the other gripping her horn.

Fun fact about unicorn horns. They aren't very hard. Its why you never see unicorns stabbing something with them. They break easy. Alicorn horn felt similar to unicorn horn, though this one was longer and felt oddly oily.

Nightmare Moon reared and bucked like a pony possessed, doing her best to get me off her back. I held on for dear life and prayed Twilight would know what to do next.

"What have you done with Celestia?" Twilight asked. A good start, I felt.

"Banished her to the sun, as she banished me to the moon," was Nightmare Moon's reply.

And then the flaw in my plan became apparent. She turned back into the mist, leaving me to drop five feet or so onto my face. Then there was the sound of hooves upon wood, and Nightmare Moon reformed from the mist next to me. Opening my eyes, I could see her hooves a few inches from my face. I rolled over to see her leaning over me, a creepily huge smile on her face. A glow surrounded me, holding me down.

"Yes, you will do fine. Your efforts, while futile, show daring and nerve. I am willing to offer you a high rank in my new Guard. You may name your price." She gave me what I think was meant to be a sultry look. Oh hell no. "Meet me in the old capitol before the sun was due to set."

And then she did the mist thing again, and left.

Well. Fuck.


	3. Chapter 2

The panic started immediately. The pegasi Guards had vanished when Nightmare Moon did, and the Mayor seemed unwilling to take charge of the situation. I got to my feet and looked at the crowd. Twilight, along with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy, were trying to force their way to the stage, but the crowd was too busy panicking. I took a deep breath.

"SHUT! UP!"

The crowd slowly fell silent. All of them looked at me. I was suddenly struck by a thousand nervous thoughts. If you've ever had stage fright, you'll know the sort of thought I mean. The sort that you shouldn't have to worry about, know you shouldn't but do anyway. I became really aware of where my hands were, for instance. I froze for a moment, but pushed them aside and tried to remember the evacuation procedure.

"Okay. Pinkie Pie, do a head count. See if anyone is missing. Rainbow Dash, you and Applejack find anyone who isn't here, and bring them here. Foals have highest priority, then pregnant mares, then fillies and colts, then the injured or elderly, then everyone else. Got it?" Three slightly stunned nods.

"Good. Get started. Rarity, Flutters-" I began, but was interrupted by the Mayor.

"And what gives you the right to order everypony around?" she asked. When she put emphasis on the 'pony' part of 'everypony' I wanted to punch her. "As Mayor, overseeing evacuation of the town is my responsibility."

Instead of punching her, I nodded, grateful. "Okay, you do it. I've got you started. I'll be around if you need me." I wouldn't. I dropped from the stage and walked over to Twilight. I could hear the Mayor taking charge behind me. Not reluctant, just in shock. I guess if my nigh-immortal ruler-deity vanished, I'd be surprised too.

When I was next to Twilight, I waved her to follow me and went for the door.

"What's the plan?" I asked her.

"What did Nightmare Moon say to you?"

"Gave me a job offer. High rank in her Royal Guard. I get to name my terms. To meet her in the old capitol before the sun was meant to set. I'm guessing that gives us what, twelve hours?"

"Sixteen," a soft voice said. I stopped in the act of opening the door. That wasn't Twilight. I turned to find Fluttershy and Rarity behind me. It was probably Fluttershy who spoke.

"Fourteen then. That way we won't be late," Twilight said. Typical. "You two stay and help with the evacuation. If we're still around after that, we'll be in the library, researching. You're welcome to help with that, after the evacuation is done."

The two of them nodded, and trotted or floated over to the Mayor. I walked outside and looked up. The moon was high in the sky, but it was missing the pattern of craters it had had.

"I told you that pattern wasn't natural."

"Really?" Twilight asked, voice full of disbelief. "Is now really the time for this?"

I shivered as a cold wind blew around us. "That depends. How long can we survive without the sun to warm the planet?"

"I don't know. The planets already begun to cool down. As the air gets colder it'll drop rapidly, and the higher the air the faster it will cool, creating high speed winds. The rapid cooling and high wind speeds will work together to remove food sources. Being in a valley as we are, we should be able to last longer than those in, say, Canterlot, but I can't give an estimate."

Its things like that, that make me feel okay when I think of Twilight as the brains of the operation.

We quickly reached the library, glad to be indoors again. "You look for anything to do with Nightmare Moon. I'll try and pinpoint the old capitol."

We worked silently. I quickly ran out of books on Nightmare Moon - most of them were storybooks for foals Twilight had made me read to learn about Equestria way back when. A lot of them mentioned 'The Six Elements of Harmony.' I asked Twilight to keep an eye out for that as she flipped through history books. She grunted after I spoke, so I assumed she heard me.

After a couple hours of quick research, the picture I had of Nightmare Moon looked like this. Thousand years ago, Equestria had two princess. Celestia, and the other one. Other One gets mad ponies sleep at night, goes crazy, changes her name to Nightmare Moon. She and Celestia fight, Celestia kicks her ass to the moon with the Elements of Harmony at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Now, Nightmare Moon came back, and because Celestia didn't have the Elements, she ended up getting banished, and now the night would last forever.

In summary; Nightmare Moon bad, Celestia good.

Then again, she did banish her to the moon for a thousand years. death would have been kinder.

There was a knock at the door. I stretched as I stood to answer it. Still had a good ten to twelve hours before I had to be somewhere. I had opened the door maybe an inch when it slammed the rest of the way, and a light blue blur slammed into my chest, screaming, "What did you do with the Princess!"

I cracked open my eyes, and saw Rainbow Dash on top of me. Then I realised I was on the floor. Standing behind her were Applejack, who looked angry, Pinkie Pie, whose smile had started to drop, Rarity, who looked vaguely disappointed, and Fluttershy, who looked scared.

I looked at how Rainbow Dash was standing. She had her forehooves on my chest and her back hooves on my legs.

"This is not a very good pin," I told her, placing my hand on her sides, just beneath her wings and pushing her up as hard as I could. Pegasi being lighter than a unicorn of the same size meant that she was thrown off of me.

I scrambled to my feet, keeping my back to Twilight as I did. Rainbow Dash caught herself in mid air, a few flaps of her wings slowing her down. She didn't fly back at me, like I thought she would. Instead, Applejack stepped forward.

"What did Nightmare Moon say to ya? When ye were on the stage with 'er, I mean."

"Offered me a job. I'm guessing evacuation is done?" Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodded. Rainbow Dash was busy glaring at me, and Fluttershy seemed to be trying to hide behind herself. "Right, sitrep time. Nightmare Moon is stopping the sun coming up. We need the Elements of Harmony, whatever they are, to stop her. Both Nightmare Moon, and the Elements, seem to be in the ruins of the old capitol. Twilight's looking for a location. How's that coming, Twilight?" I called over to the purple unicorn.

"I know were it is, I think," she called back, eyes still glued to her book.

"And where is it?"

She closed the book with a sigh. "The Everfree forest."

I nodded. The five ponies in front of me gasped. Except Fluttershy, who squealed. That was probably the loudest sound she'd made since I met her. "You ready to go?" I asked Twilight.

"Give me, say, an hour to double check the direction, pack some supplies and see if theres anything else we need to know about."

"You can't honestly be going into the Everfree at night, can you?" Rarity asked, sounding scandalised.

"They don't have much choice, Rarity," Pinkie Pie said, sounding completely unlike the crazy mare I remembered from the surprise party. "Besides, they'll have us along with them!" Wait, nope, there she was.

Then again, anything between Twilight and danger was good by me. Might not be in her plan though. Best to let her decide then.

"Twilight, these five want to come with us. You okay with that?" I called out. She was currently in the kitchen, packing food.

"They'll need to bring their own food," was all she said. Probably part of the plan.

"Okay, you're in. One condition; do as you're told." There were a few sounds of complaint, and a snort from Rainbow Dash. "Twilight will be the one telling you what to do, not me." That stopped them complaining. Damn xenophobic ponies.

"Why should we listen to her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "How do we know you aren't working with Nightmare Moon, huh? What if you're both traitors?"

"You don't have to come Rainbow Dash," I said, shrugging. "If you don't trust us, then stay behind." I turned my back on them when Twilight shouted me from the kitchen, and I went to help. She had put some food and other 'useful items', as she called it, in a set of saddlebags, which she was wearing, but had a few things she wanted me to carry. Didn't say what they were, just that they might come in handy. They looked to be first aid supplies, and some books.

We left the kitchen to see the end of a whispered argument. The five, wait, four, Pinkie Pie was gone, of them turned to face Twilight and I, falling silent when we entered the room.

"We're coming. All five of us. Pinkie's gone to get food," Applejack said.

"I'm back!" The door flew open as the mare in question bounced inside, a bulging pair of saddlebags on. "Just in time, too. Are we ready to go?" They looked at Twilight. I looked at Twilight. She tilted her head to the right, like she always does when thinking quickly, then nodded. We set off, Twilight in the lead.

We reached the forest's edge quickly, and with a fair bit of chit-chat between the ponies. Apparently, despite each of them having lived in town for a number of years, they didn't really know each other that well. Twilight got involved as well, which brought the ponies onto the subject of me, beginning with where I came from and how I got here.

Twilight always got really nervous when that came up. Understandable. She had ripped me from my home in a magical fit, stranding me in Equestria at the tender age of ten with no way home. She still told them the truth, of course, which got her a few surprised looks, and me a few sympathetic ones.

Of course, there was a question that usually followed that revelation. Rainbow Dash was the one to ask it here. "Why do you stay with her if she did that to you?"

I chimed in at this point, the first time I'd spoken since leaving the library. "She didn't mean to. She was a filly. She couldn't help herself. Besides, when I first got here she was the only one that would spend any time with me. We only got closer after school started."

"So, wait, you two've been together since you were what, nine and ten?" Rainbow Dash asked. When Twilight confirmed that, she went on to say, "Man, that first heat must have been hard on you both."

Everyone who wasn't me, Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie blushed, though I couldn't really tell with the last one.

"Rainbow! You can't just talk about... about that in public!" Rarity said, shocked.

"Yeah, Rainbow, that sort of thing ain't for out and about," Applejack agreed.

"C'mon, guys, we're in the Everfree Forest! I doubt anypony is about to hear us. So," she turned to look at Twilight, "what happened? You said you live in Canterlot, right? In the castle? Did you chase him around the castle?"

Twilight blushed even deeper. How did they do that with fur? I made a mental note to ask when we got back to Canterlot.

Seeing Rainbow Dash's eager, and everyone else's curious faces, Twilight sighed in defeat. "Yes, I chased him around the castle, okay? He was the only boy I knew, and I wasn't expecting, you know, it. He ended up leaving the castle and just vanishing. The Princess was so worried he'd get hurt, but the Guards couldn't find him anywhere. He showed up, two weeks later, filthy and covered in cuts and bruises." She looked up at me, eyes curious. "You know, you never did tell me what you did those two weeks."

"I doubt you'd like what you heard," I told her.

"Still, we have time to waste. We're a good three hours from the castle still."

We were walking along the edge of the forest first. Seemed easier than walking through the forest. It was getting colder, and I could hear timberwolves howling from between the trees. The glanced at the ponies around me. They were cold and scared, not that any of them apart from Fluttershy would admit it.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But only once, no interruptions, and Celestia never finds out about it."

I collected my thoughts for a moment, before starting.

"I had only been in Equestria for a week or so at this point, and I still didn't believe it was real. I mean, colourful talking ponies was not something I was prepared for. I hadn't slept in a few days, so after Twilight chased me out the castle, I collapsed behind a shop. A bakers, as it turned out when I was stepped on before sunrise the next morning. I'd been out for a whole day."

I could still remember the smell of that bakers. They used a different kind of flour than the others in Canterlot, and and it smelled so much better. I smiled a little at the memory.

"Anyway, when the baker stepped on me, I screamed, so she screamed, and we did that for a few minutes until we ran out of air. Then we tried to introduced ourselves. She was surprised I could speak, not that we could understand each other, but we laughed for a few minutes and she got ever her nervousness. What followed was probably the oddest game of charades. When she learned I was staying at the castle, she put two and two together and realised I was the 'runaway creature' the Guards were looking for. See, Celestia hadn't told anyone about me yet. She was going to get the Guards and turn me in - there was a decent sized reward, and I was skinny, pale and generally looked wild. I didn't want to go back yet, not knowing what the hell had happened or would happen. So, I waited until her back was turned, and hit her over the head with the lid of a trash can. She went out like a light. I opened the store door, took some food and money, and left."

There was a series of gasps at that. Equestria has a ridiculously low crime rate. I was probably the only thief that month, if not that half of the year. Add assault, and things got serious. Still, the muffins were good.

"I spent the next week on the move, avoiding Guards as best I could. I wound up in the part of Canterlot a lot of foreign immigrants end up in. It had the least amount of Guards, so I thought I'd be safe there." Man, had I been wrong. "I must have fallen asleep in the wrong alleyway, because next thing I know there are a pair of griffons standing in front of me. I knew the drill by then, though. I hand over everything but the clothes on my back. But that isn't enough for them. They want me to follow them, probably thought they could sell me to a zoo or something. Or maybe to the Guards, as a bunch of posters with my face on them were being put up all over Canterlot. The reward was much larger this time, too. Three thousand bits, I think, maybe four."

Jaws dropped there. That was a fair bit of money. A two bedroom house in Canterlot was around six thousand bits, and thats one not far from the castle. A dozen apples was generally one or two, depending on quality, location and season.

"I still didn't like the sound of going back, so I argued quick harshly. Got a few lucky hits in, broke one of the griffons wings, and cracked the others beak. Course, I broke my hand and got a few more bruises and cuts. Not my best idea. Spent the second week running from angry griffons. Though I'm happy to say I made enough money off them to pay back the bakery. Still, ended up bleeding out in the middle of one of Canterlot's busier streets one day before the Guard found me. They took me to the hospital, but as soon as I could walk again I was out the window. Ran pretty much straight into a group of griffons. Guards poured out the hospital seconds later and, well, it took Celestia years to repair relations with Griffonia."

There was silence as Twilight shook her head at me. I hope she wasn't too disappointed with me. I mean, I paid the baker back and then some, and the thing with the griffons was only sort of my fault.

A few minutes more walking and Twilight stopped to check the map she had. She stared at it for a few seconds, then floated it over to me. While I looked at it, she turned to the other ponies.

"We're going deeper into the Everfree now," she said. "Have any of you been in there before?"

There was a squeak of what was probably confirmation from Fluttershy. At least, thats what Twilight and I took it as. Twilight looked at the other five ponies thoughtfully, then nodded.

"We're heading in. Be careful, girls. Fluttershy, I'll need you to let somepony know if you see anything dangerous."

Entering the forest was surprisingly calming. I felt a sudden lack of pressure that had been there so long I'd learned to ignore it. Clouds moved without being made to. Animals looked after themselves. Twilight and the rest of the ponies seemed frightened by it, though Rainbow Dash put on a brave face. For me, it felt right. Like I imagine coming home after a long time away would feel.

The ponies walked in a rough circle with Fluttershy in the middle. Probably herd instinct, making them protect the weakest member. I was on the outside of the circle, looking around constantly.

The forest grew darker as we walked deeper, the trees becoming older, taller and thicker, the roots and branches more twisted and gnarled. A quiet fell on the seven of us, and the ponies moved closer together.

We had been in the forest for half an hour, maybe an hour, when I saw the first pair of yellow eyes watching us. Just behind them, I saw what looked like a large, wooden wolf. Timberwolves. Great. I glanced to the other side without moving my head, and saw another set. Of course, for the two I saw there were probably half a dozen I didn't see. Timberwolves are smarter than most people give them credit for, and if they don't want to be seen, they won't be.

I moved over to Twilight and tapped her on the back of the head. She turned to look at me, keeping one eye on the path in front of her. An advantage of a much larger field of view, I guess.

"Timberwolves following us," I murmured. Whispering carries very well. "Don't know how many. Don't know how long. Want me to take care of them?"

She shook her head and barely managed to stop herself falling over. "Hopefully, we won't have to worry about them," she whispered.

"Worry about what?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight had never believed me about the whispers thing.

"Michael says there are timberwolves behind us," Twilight explained, to much shock and worry. "He wants to fall behind and... 'take care of them'." Ponies were not violent by nature. Their 'fight or flight' response was heavily weighted towards flight.

"'Take care of them'?" Rainbow Dash said. "I don't think this is the time to be looking for pets, dude."

The conversation was stopped by a roar. A manticore was running at us. At least, it was running in our direction. It wasn't looking at us though. It was a younger one, if I remembered my 'Dangerous Fauna' class, with some growing to be done in the wings and tail still. Though it was pretty thin as well, not starving, but not far from it either, and its yellow fur was duller than it should be.

When the ponies saw it, they screamed, which got its attention. Then it started charging at them. I sprinted past them, drawing my sword as I ran. The beast saw me between it and food, and focused on me. It skidded to a halt and swiped at me with a paw the size of my chest. I dived under the swipe and rolled, ending in a crouch. Angling my sword upwards, I pushed off with both my legs and stabbed the thing in the chest. I got lucky and got it between the ribs.

Not lucky enough to kill it. The manticore roared in pain and reared up on its back legs. Its scorpion tail darted at me, and I didn't get out of the way in time. It didn't pierce the armour, but the force of the blow sent me into a nearby tree hard enough to dent it and probably bruised one of my rips.

I barely dodged the follow up swing. I rolled under it again, but it was ready for me now. It sent its tail at me again. I ripped my sword out of it and barely parried the strike, knocking it into the ground to my right.

Darting backwards, I moved in front of the statue-still ponies, bloody sword raised in a fencing position. Not the best thing for a manticore, but it put my sword between my and that damned tail.

I must have hit something vital, either with the stab or when I pulled the sword out, because the fight was rapidly leaving the manticore. It stood, swaying, for another moment, before its legs gave out one by one and it collapsed. It twitched for a while, mostly the tail or wings, and then it was still.

When I was sure it wasn't going to move any more, I walked over and cleaned my sword on its fur before sheathing it. Manticore blood was a bit corrosive, so I had to get it off as soon as possible.

Still no sound from the ponies. I wanted to get gone before the timberwolves hit us from behind. I turned, and found myself nose to nose with a tearful, angry Fluttershy.

"Why?" she asked, in a voice like I'd killed her pet bunny in front of her.

"It was a threat," I said. "Now lets get going before the timberwolves get bored of waiting."

I started walking, but when I didn't hear hooves behind me I stopped and let out a sigh. Looking behind me, I saw them staring at me, Fluttershy still crying, the rest looking disgusted, ill or both.

"Twilight, we doing this or what?"

She just looked ill, thankfully. "Just, just give us a minute, okay?"

"Probably be better to get away from it," I pointed out.

"Yeah, that seems good. Come on girls, lets get away from it."

We started walking again, albeit at a much slower pace. The path had also started growing patchy, though the distance between parts of the path was growing larger all the time. We got maybe fifteen minutes walk away from the manticore before the ponies stopped. Rarity was the first to vomit, but the rest followed. Apart from Pinkie Pie, oddly enough. She seemed fine, even managed to crack a few jokes.

I hope the timberwolves were happy with manticore, because if they came after us now theres no way I could fight them off.

Water was getting passed around. I managed to get it before too many vomiting mouths had been around it, but I went for pouring it in from a distance anyway. No need to take risks. After everyone had had a drink, they seemed to calm down. Which obviously meant it was time to shout at me. Fluttershy was first.

"You didn't have to kill him!" she said, pointing back the way we came with a hoof.

"It was the best option," I said, pressing at my side as I spoke. Yeah, definitely bruised a rib. Don't think it was cracked or broken, at least. My answer seemed to confuse her, though I will admit I've never been good at reading pony's emotions. Twilight, yeah, I can usually get what she's thinking, and one or two others. When they're like Pinkie Pie I can tell as well, and the big emotions, happiness and the like, are easy. But subtle things, especially things that rely on movements of tails, wings or ears, I don't see. I just don't look for them.

"How can killing be the best option?" she asked, back to her quiet voice now.

"Got it and the timberwolves out of the way." Armour seemed fine, if a little bent. Need to get it fixed when I was in Canterlot.

"But I could have gotten it to let us go," Fluttershy said, almost pleadingly. Tone was easier than facial expressions, though the two weren't entirely separate.

"Would have been nice to know that before I killed it." Sword seemed fine too. Couldn't see any corrosion on it, though I'd need to check it later to know for sure. Better safe than sorry, and there wasn't much light to see by right now.

Fluttershy didn't seem to have a response to that. I put my sword away and looked around. Only Twilight met my eyes, and she didn't seem happy with me. The others glanced at me when they thought I wasn't looking. They were scared of me. Twilight was scared of me. Dammit.

I gave the ponies a few more minutes rest, and then we set out again. They were silent for a while, and couldn't seem to decide between staying as far away from me as possible and staying as close as possible. Twilight was to come near me. She came over to me, nudging my hip with the side of her head and gave me a smile when I looked down. I smiled back and ruffled her mane. We would be okay.

"How do you do that?"

Rainbow Dash had hovered over to me. I gave her a confused look, and when she didn't get it I asked, "Do what?"

"You just killed a manticore and made it look easy, then you treat Twilight like your little sister or something. It, it just seems like you should be shaken up, y'know? But you act like you do it everyday."

"Maybe a pony should be shaken, but I'm not a pony," I said. She ignores me

"And were did you learn to fight like that? You, I swear, its like you unfolded or something." She's off in her own little world now, jabbering on about alien armies or something.

"Rainbow's right," Applejack said. "I swear, when you were fightin' the manticore, it was like you grew bigger. Like, like Winona when she hears the timberwolves a-howling." Winona was her farmdog, I think. "I ain't gonna lie, I was more scared ah you than I was of the manticore then."

When Applejack compared me to her dog - a comparison I didn't mind - Fluttershy's head snapped up and towards me. She flew at me at fast enough to make me flinch and asked, no, ordered me to show her my teeth. She was a vet or something, I think. Something animal related. She had mentioned a bear, so she would know what sharp teeth meant. I gave her a dentists smile.

By some freak stroke of luck, the teeth either side of my canines are tilted back slightly, making the canines more pronounced. Fluttershy just looked at them and nodded. "You eat meat, don't you?"

More gasps from the ponies with us. They do that a lot. I gave them a reassuring smile, thought better of it and stopped. Actually, only Rarity gasped. Twilight knew, Applejack has a dog, Pinkie Pie has an alligator and I don't think Rainbow Dash heard. They all seemed a bit more on edge, though.

"He doesn't eat ponies," Twilight said. "I mean, would he be a Royal Guard if he ate ponies?"

That calmed them down quite a bit. They must of a good image of the Guards in Ponyville. It wasn't that far from Canterlot, but given the size of the town I doubt they saw them that often. Probably had a fairly romanticised view of them.

Twilight and the other ponies talked a bit more. I checked around us, and didn't see any timberwolves. Spotted a few things, though I only recognised one, a cockatrice. Heading away from us, thankfully.

The ponies were walking in a much tighter clump, though Pinkie Pie started bouncing, literally bouncing, after a while. Twilight and her were the only two that would come within a foot of me. We were walking through a particularly dark part of the wood that had the ponies trembling when Pinkie Pie started singing a song about giggling. It was catchy, sure, but I didn't really get why she sang it. Made Twilight feel better though, so I didn't mind. It helped the others as well.

We met an incredibly flamboyant purple sea serpent (river serpent?). Apparently, because he was missing part of his moustache, we couldn't cross the river. Rarity gave him part of her tail, which he loved, and he gave us a lift over. Pretty nice of her, if she puts half as much work into her looks as I think she does.

An incident with some falling rocks and collapsing ground ended with me pulling Twilight up while the pegasi rescued the earth ponies and Rarity. We stuck to safer ground after that. Applejack was pretty good at telling what part of the path was safe and what wasn't. Took a bit to convince Rarity and Twilight that was something earth ponies could do, but eventually they believed her.

We were getting pretty close, and could actually see the castle not far away, when we came to a ravine. And, because whoever is in charge of this world wants a good story, the bridge was an old, rickety wooden thing that had collapsed. Twilight sent Rainbow across to tie it up, ignoring my plan of teleporting everyone but the pegasi the ten feet or so.

A fog blew in just after Rainbow Dash left. After waiting far too long, the bridge was back up and we crossed to find Rainbow waiting on the other side.

"What took you so long?" Twilight asked her.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," the pegasus replied. "I'd never leave you hangin'. So, how we doin' this?" After she said that, Twilight got this weird look on her face, the one she gets when a lightbulb goes off in her head.

"First, we find the elements," Twilight said. "They will look like five orbs, but I don't know where they'll be. Somewhere important, most likely." I nodded, and followed her when she started walking. The others came with as well.

The castle was a mess. It was a crumbling ruin, with deep shadows and dank corners.

And the Elements of Harmony were right in the freaking entrance.

Seriously. These things were some sort of super-weapon, and they were sitting just inside the front gate. Which was made of wood, had a huge hole in it and was hanging off its hinges. Talk about lack of security.

The ponies started cheering, when Twilight realised one was missing. Apparently, magic, the sixth element, only showed up when the rest were together or something.

Then the weird misty shape Nightmare Moon took showed up and started monologuing. She focused on the ponies, thankfully, allowing me to blindside her. Which is harder than it looks with horses.

I kicked her in the back of her back left leg and knocked the back right out from under her with a swing of my sword. She landed on her arse with a surprised gasp. I sliced one of her wings while she stood up, getting clipped by the return kick. In the same place the manticore hit me as well. When I picked myself up, she was facing me, and she was pissed. There were five piles of dust at her feet, and she sounded smug. She had destroyed the Elements, and soon would rule the world. She gave me one last job offer as well. I glanced at the wing I'd cut. It had already healed.

"Alright. I'm in," I told her. She seemed shocked by that. Probably expected me to refuse and try to keep fighting. "One condition. Twilight lives and you never order me to hurt her. She's the purple one."

"Ah. Very well. Your friend shall be spared. And the others? Any plans for them?" she asked.

I shrugged. "They're no threat. They obviously can't use the Elements now, so killing them would be a waste of time. The forest will probably take care of them for us. Plus, knowing they failed will hurt worse than dying would." I cleaned her blood off my sword using the side of my trousers as I spoke. Nightmare Moon turned back to the ponies and informed them of their fate. They gave me shocked and angry looks, Twilight most of all. I winked at her and smiled. C'mon Twilight, get it.

I hope she got it, and was playing along, because if not I was in trouble later. She gave me this look I'm pretty sure could make stone cry. She looked betrayed and hurt. She looked like she was about to cry.

I'm not going to lie. It hurt. It really hurt. While I can't honestly say I've never made Twilight cry, I can honestly say that nothing makes me feel worse.

Nightmare Moon laughed and teleported us away. I sat down and looked over my sword a bit while I waited, trying to keep the worry off my face. We were in the throne room, I think, at the end opposite from the door. It was dark and dank and smelled funny. Nightmare Moon talked to herself, telling herself to shut up, that it would work. I hoped she wasn't too crazy. Nothing more dangerous than a powerful crazy person. The shards of the elements had been brought along. A few seconds later Twilight showed up in a flash of light purple light. I could hear the other five down below, shouting and running. I think Nightmare Moon was about to order me to hurt Twilight, then remembered our deal. Too early to make me break that yet.

They stared at each other. Twilight snorted and pawed at the ground with a hoof. And then she lowered her head and started powering up a spell. Her horn glowed, the light the same colour as her teleport flash.

I hit Nightmare Moon in the side while she was focused on Twilight. Slammed into her with a flying tackle. I'm not a big guy, but I've got a fair bit of muscle on me, and I'm in armour. She fell on her side, and I landed on her. And because I'm an idiot, I had my sword between us. I kneed her in the ribs and stood, only to have my weapon torn from my hands with a rush of dark blue light. I stomped on the alicorn's wing to try and keep her down. From the sounds she made it must have hurt like hell.

After a handful of blows, I turned to look for my sword. I wasn't going to break any of her bones, not if her wings had survived that. Bloody alicorn durability. And I was promptly tossed across the room for my stupidity.

Look, I'm not trained to fight alicorns, and in the heat of battle its easy to forget the same thing that could take a small house being dropped on it could also drop a small house on you.

I hit the wall, and then the floor, with a pair of cracks, which were thankfully the stone, and not me. On the other hand, I'd hit the stone hard enough to crack it. I'm going to be covered in bruises in the morning.

One stroke of luck went my way, though. I had been thrown in the same direction as my sword.

"Why are the good ones always taken," Nightmare Moon lamented. I think she was talking about soldiers. I hoped she was. I am not, nor will I ever be, into ponies. "I even gave you a second chance! Though, if you were the type of... whatever you are, to switch sides when a better offer came your way, I doubt you are the type that would make a good lieutenant."

She was walking my way. Either that, or Twilight had more than doubled in size in the last minute. Man, the things you think of when full or adrenaline and pain. I could probably reach my sword from where I lay. Just had to let her get close enough.

I moved when I could see her hooves. A roll to the side, grab the hilt and swing as I stand up.

Only to hit a magic shield. Today is just not my day. I wasn't expecting the recoil, and barely managed to not drop the weapon, but my fingers went a bit fuzzy. My hand was trapped in a dark blue glow before I could start another swing, not that I stopped trying.

Nightmare Moon was smiling at me. She had a mouth full of canines, for some reason. She looked really smug with having stopped my sword arm. So I smashed my forehead into her nose.

Pony Fact: Pony noses are both soft and sensitive.

She screamed like a little filly and her magic slipped. It was like her nose exploded, the amount of blood that poured out. My arm was suddenly moving, catching me slightly off guard. I scored a hit along her withers, and got a hoof to the chest in return. Her punch was like a full grown earth pony stallion slamming into me, compacted into a circle two inches across. In other words, it hurt.

I was sent reeling back. Nightmare Moon followed, sending a few more punches my way. I dodged or parried most of them, but a few struck home. She was damn fast. If she had more practice fighting bipedal animals I'd probably have died in the first minute. But I was lucky, and she didn't.

Eventually, my luck ran out, and she got me with a two-hoofer to the floating ribs. I hit the wall behind me hard enough to collapse it, though thankfully there wasn't much wall left. Not that it mattered, once I started coughing red.

Nightmare Moon stood over me. She was monologuing again, or maybe laughing. I couldn't tell over the ringing in my ears. She lifted a hoof above my head and said something loudly and smugly.

Then a rainbow hit her from behind.

It hit me as well. I was blinded by it, the colours washing together to make a bright white light. I closed my eyes, but it didn't make much difference.

It didn't hurt, oddly enough. It didn't feel good, but it didn't hurt. It made me feel calm. At peace. Docile. Not things I'm used to feeling. I didn't particularly enjoy them. And then the light was gone. I was both saddened and relieved by its absence.

I managed to get myself out of the rubble without hacking up a lung. I only coughed up a little blood, actually. Whatever the rainbow was, it must have healed me. I still hurt like hell, but I probably wasn't going to die anytime soon. Nightmare Moon was gone, though her armour was still there. Twilight was swaying slightly were she stood, but was otherwise okay. Didn't have a scratch on her that I could see. Probably had a few ones you can't though. I could feel sunlight on the back of my neck. It made the hairs there stand up.

No, wait, that was the eyes, staring at me from under the discarded armour. They weren't Nightmare Moon's eyes. She had cat-eyes, these eyes belonged to a normal pony. They were also much too small to be Nightmare Moon's.

I staggered over the few steps between me and the armour, picking up my sword as I walked, and moved it out of the way. Under it was an alicorn filly. She had a darker purple coat than Twilight, with a pale violet mane. Her cutie mark was like Nightmare Moon's, but on her the crescent moon was surrounded by black, not purple.

We looked at each other for a while, her staring up at me with wide eyes. I don't know what I looked like, but it can't have been good, because she flinched when I knelt down in front of her.

"So. You're the other Princess?" I asked her. She nodded at me, very slowly. I sheathed my sword and helped her to her hooves. "I'm Michael. We need to talk to Twilight."

The filly stared at the ground. "I am Princess Luna," she muttered.

I walked over to Twilight, and heard Luna following behind me. She was talking to Celestia. Where had she came from? I grabbed Twilight by the back of the neck and pulled her away. She complained, but I'd deal with that in a bit. I looked Celestia in the eye and said, "What were my first words in Equestria? Untranslated."

She was shocked at first, then had a flash of anger before moving to acceptance. She brought her head to my ear and whispered, in English, 'You're real, aren't you?'

I let out the breath I hadn't realised I was holding. Even if it hadn't been Celestia, it still gave off the same feeling of warmth the white alicorn did. I don't think I could have taken her. I settled for my usual glare before stepping back to let Twilight stand next to her mentor.

I think she was about to tell me off for suspecting it wasn't Celestia when the alicorn hugged her, cutting her off. I gave the five other ponies a quick check over. They seemed okay. Probably going to have nightmares, but nothing I could do about that. Celestia and Twilight spoke, but they did it while hugging and crying, so I didn't really get any of it, and then they spoke to Luna, who was apparently hiding behind me. Wasn't she scared of me a second ago?

The little filly was nervous, which made Celestia talk down to her instead of just talk to her, which even I know is a mistake. So I picked Luna up and brought her up to eye level with her sister by sitting her on my shoulders. Being back to her normal height made Luna more confidant, so she and her sister were able to have a proper conversation. Which ended in tears, albeit happy ones.

If you want a record of what was actually said that night, don't check a history book, because Celestia edits history books. If I'm still around when you read this, come to me and I'll get you a copy of Twilight's notes. If I'm not, they're in the archives, in the cooking section, under 'Medieval Minotaur Vegetarian recipes'. Look for something by 'Gandalf the Grey'.

Anyway, Celestia and Luna had been reunited. By now, I was pretty sure Luna wasn't a threat, and if she was Celestia could take care of her. I gave Twilight a smile, which she returned slowly, and collapsed. I was out before I hit the ground.


End file.
